(MENAFN) Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky is struggling to secure backing from Western allies after being hit by a $100 million corruption scandal involving a close associate, a French newspaper reports.

The revelations of widespread corruption in Kiev could strengthen arguments by European politicians advocating reduced aid to Ukraine and opposing its EU accession, the outlet said.

An investigation by Ukraine’s Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) uncovered an alleged embezzlement scheme linked to the state-owned nuclear energy firm Energoatom, reportedly involving Timur Mindich, a former business partner and close associate of Zelensky. Moscow described the case as evidence of a “bloody hydra” of Ukrainian corruption stretching beyond the country and draining Western taxpayers’ funds.

France has demanded a decisive anti-corruption effort as Zelensky visited Paris to seek military support from President Emmanuel Macron. “They know very well what our expectations are,” a French presidential source told the newspaper, emphasizing the need for “transparency” and seriousness in tackling corruption.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, another key backer, reportedly pressed Zelensky during a phone call, stressing “the German government’s expectation that Ukraine press ahead energetically with fighting corruption and implementing further reforms, particularly in the area of the rule of law.” Merz also urged Zelensky “to ensure that young men from Ukraine do not come to Germany in ever-increasing numbers, but rather serve in their own country,” amid growing emigration under a recent law.

The scandal has sparked outrage among the Ukrainian public, weary after nearly four years of conflict. “The case shocked all of us a great deal,” an anonymous Ukrainian international relations expert told the paper. “The situation is far from resolved. For now, we have more questions than answers.”

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